Mornings
by ElGato44
Summary: A series of one-shots detailing Yui's mornings with each of the gods.
1. Hades

**Disclaimer: I don't own KnA or the gods they portray.**

Chapter 1: Hades

Mornings were filled with darkness. Sweet darkness. Warm darkness in spite of the solitary candles that emitted a blue-green light. Most of the time, it was hard to tell if it was morning in the Underworld, but by now, Yui could tell. Especially when she noticed that her lover, the Lord of the Underworld, was gone from their bed.

Hades would go to bed after her and wake up early to take a patrol through his realm. It was his responsibility. In spite of the curse on his chest and the howling dark souls that resided so close to his throne and chambers, he had learned to accept his role, realizing its importance. Still, it was hard work. Yui, being a good, devoted lover, supported him in every way.

Yui stretched out to feel the cool sheets, laughing a little as she could hear Cerberus barking excitedly and Hades give him a frustrated scolding. She always thought that three headed dog was ferocious, but a dog's a dog and the beast begged for food, piddled where he wasn't supposed to, and got overly excited whenever he saw his master.

Living in the Underworld was just a series of contradictions. It was dark, gloomy, and frightening in most respects, but then watching Hades get flustered, and Cerberus roll over on his back, his three tongues hanging out, made the Underworld not so bad. Yui didn't want to be "that person" but she didn't see why the souls had to insist on being so miserable.

She sat up in bed when the door to their chamber opened. Hades, in his black robes and crown full of thorns, entered. He hadn't noticed she was awake and stood over their dresser, pouring himself a glass of water to drink out of and took off his crown.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," he grumbled as the crown got caught in his long green-black locks. Once he got it free he said to himself, "Why do I insist on wearing this?" Hades proceeded to quietly wash his face, not only to refresh himself, but to get the dog slobber off his face.

Yui watched quietly as he poured a little water in the small flowerpot that rested next to the candle. The flower was growing, albeit slowly in spite of Hades' rather special care. Hades' red eye caught her moving as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"You should be asleep," Hades said, "I'm sorry to wake you."

"It's morning, Hades, I should be up," Yui rubbed the kink out of her neck. "You, however, should be back in bed. How long have you been up?"

"Couple of hours," he replied sitting down at the edge of their bed, he reached over to stroke her hair, a soft smile on his face. "It's all part of the job, dear. At least the more troublesome souls don't cause trouble too early in the morning when I do my rounds."

"They treat you like a camp counselor," Yui giggled, resting her head against his shoulder.

"And what is that?"

"Someone who's in charge of a bunch of rowdy children when their parents aren't around."

Hades smiled, "Yeah, well, if I weren't around they'd be partying all day and if death was perceived as fun, no one would want to be alive."

As morbid as his assertion was, he did have a point. The living should stay living and the dead should stay dead. Still, maybe making the Underworld a less dreary place would give the lost souls some reprieve. Yui concerned herself mostly with her lover, but in most regards she was sympathetic towards the souls.

Yui was frightened of them. They threatened to kill her, maim her, do unspeakable acts…all of which resulted in harsh punishment from Hades, by being sent to the deepest, darkest pits of the soul well, alone and forever drowning. That was angriest Yui had ever seen Hades.

After a while, Yui learned to ignore their threats, and instead listened to their cries. Many cried about missing families and friends, envying that they could not see their faces in the brightness of the living world. Yui had thrown away her family to live with Hades and there were days she felt like those souls did.

But, she assured herself, that her family was with Hades. And his dog. And his turtle that was currently doing his own slow laps in front of their door. Even some of the souls that she had encountered seemed to be every part of the 'household'.

Hades squeezed her hand, "Is something wrong, love?"

Yui shook her head immediately, "No, I was just thinking."

Hades was caught between wanting to pry and leaving her to her thoughts. He was very aware of the sacrifices she made to stay with him. The last thing he ever wanted was for her to regret her decision. Yui was, in all regards, the one thing that made staying King of the Underworld all the more bearable, and he did his damnedest to be good to her, given the circumstances.

He stroked her wrist in silence, allowing her to think on her own. For a moment, Yui was reminded when they first were together here in this world. She was petrified and nervous, a combination of which didn't make their first night pleasant. But Hades gave her time, letting the stroke of the wrist be the only contact until it escalated further. Of course even then, their consummation was fit of apologies and crying-mostly on Hades part. Still, the next day the souls were a little perplexed as to why their gloomy king seemed so chipper.

"I really shouldn't be loafing around," Yui sighed, thinking about Hades and his hard work. "I should help you more in the mornings, if you'd allow me."

Hades chuckled, more relieved that she wasn't thinking about her situation, "Do you want to wake up before death itself? I don't think you'd 'loaf' doing work that early."

Yui scowled at his pun and Hades shifted his eyes away in response, not daring to laugh at his own joke. Yui had a sense of humor and she prided herself in making Hades laugh on occasion. But the puns. She didn't hate them, but she also didn't want to encourage Hades to make more than he already does.

Hades wrapped his arm around her shoulders, allowing her to lean against his side. "Regardless," he replied in his soft but deep voice, "You should stay in bed. I don't want to let the odd hours wear at your health."

"Hades, I'm not a child," Yui protested pulling away. "I'm not sick, nor am I defenseless."

"Forgive me," Hades apologized. "I don't want such a thing to occur. If something were to happen…" He paused and he swallowed, looking helpless at the very thought of losing her. "I'd rather have you here with me, with your warm body, than to see you out in that pit, cold and distant, where I can only look at your face but not experience you as a person."

Yui smiled, entwining her fingers into his as a method of reassurance. She was here with him, "Come on, Hades. Don't be so glum. You'd be surprised how life is like when you look at things with the glass half full."

Unfortunately, Hades didn't get that metaphor, but he understood what she was trying to say. The truth was, he counted all of his blessings every morning and even tried to muster up a few more. That way he wasn't so beaten down whenever he encountered troublesome souls. Even as his blessings whittled down throughout the day, his hope immediately shot up whenever he saw Yui still here and, he hoped, happy.

Of course, being overprotective wasn't something he was used to feeling. For a short while he was protective of his younger brothers and his nephews, but to have someone who truly could be considered his family only caused him to hover. Luckily, since he was also busy dealing with the Underworld matters, it didn't annoy Yui as much as it should've. Anything bad happen during her day it was his fault, according to Hades.

"I'll try," he said with a soft tone, his red eye losing its rather horrific edge. He leaned in hesitantly and kissed her softly. Gentle was his touch and administrations, almost treating her like a fragile doll. Yui brushed the black bangs away from his red eye and kissed it.

"Sometimes you have to make the best of what you have," she explained. "Not everyone is given the best of circumstances. My family wasn't particularly wealhty but we were happy, even in the worst of times. Meanwhile, think of all the hassle Zeus caused himself up on Olympus."

Hades chuckled and leaned his head against her shoulder, " He manages better than I do."

Normally he didn't like thinking about the struggles of others, but Zeus was an exception. Much of the trouble caused in their history was made in part because of him. Hades succeeded in his duties where Zeus shirked. But, he and Posiden owed him for rescuing them from their father's wrath.

"Just think," Yui said, taking his hand in hers and entwining their fingers. "Apollon will show us the stars you love so much. Once winter starts."

"I don't much care anymore," he murmured. This surprised her. He loved the stars more than anyone else she knew. One would think he would grab at any opportunity to see them once more.

"You're my only star," he said sleepily. "My nebula. My galaxy. My universe."

Yui blushed almost as hard as they did their first night together. Hearing his loving words were almost too much. She grasped at his hand once more, gripping tightly. Hades pulled them back to lie on their bed, side by side, staring at the ceiling as if they were watching the stars themselves.

This gave Yui an idea. She had seen plenty of stars in her short life in the mortal world that she could equate them to memory. Perhaps she could take some of the time in the mornings where she should be up with her lover to paint those stars on the ceiling, like the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars her parents put on the ceiling of her brother's bedroom when he was a young child.

Then, their Underworld would feel unlimited, just like their love.

She relayed her thought to her lover, but got no response. "Hades? Hades?"

She turned over. Hades was still next to her, his eyes closed blissfully, breath easy in calm sleep. Yui smiled, nestling herself closer beside him, resting a little more before he rose again to a slightly better Underworld.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm kind of ashamed that I haven't written Hades before. I've got nothing against him or his Cosby sweater daddy vibe, but in some ways he is too easy for me to write. Thankfully he's gotten plenty of love from fellow writers on here. Still I hope this satisfies the Hades fan in everyone.**

**Should I get enough reviews, faves, whatever, I do plan on getting to ALL the gods, even Dionysus and Thor (even Akira, though...what..the hell am I going to do with that one.) I don't have a planned order, necessarily, but Loki or Takeru or Apollon next if I get enough support. I usually don't blackmail chapters for reviews but in this case I have a big backlog of stories that I don't want to invest time in a story that doesnt get read.**


	2. Loki

**Disclaimer: I don't own mythology or KnA**

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><p>Chapter 2: Loki<p>

Yui could tell she was half awake, caught between the blackness of easy sleep and grogginess of being awake in the morning. She liked to sleep in. She needed enough sleep for the day ahead. The comfort of the sheets were teasing her, telling her a false truth that she would lie in comfort for a few more hours.

Just as her consciousness resigned itself to a dream state, she realized she couldn't breath though her nose. Literally. Her nostrils were clamped shut. Coughing and snorting, she jerked awake, all too aware of the weight on top of her.

"'Mornin' sleepyhead!" a snide excited voice called.

She struggled but the weight on her prevented her from moving free.

"Aww, god. Really Loki?!" she whined. Loki remained on top of her, knees straddling her hips, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, his long, rich red hair draped onto the sheets. "If you want to get me up, then you'll get off me."

"My little kitten is such a grump in the morning," Loki teased, hand rubbing her side, playing his seduction on her. No matter if he wanted her to be up to greet the day or to lie in bed to submit to his desires, he would always tease her. But there would be no seduction reciprocated.

Loki had this charm that could drag many women, men, and objects in bed, and Yui found herself foolishly susceptible. But as she aged, she grew to appreciate his seduction less and his playfulness more. She would never tell him that. If she did, he'd only really push her to enjoy their intimacy even if she wasn't in the mood. She didn't want to force it and she feared that Loki was becoming bored. He became bored very easily and, according to Thor, that caused him to leave several of his previous lovers. The last thing she wanted was Loki to leave her.

"Did I tire you last night?" he purred in her ear, his fingers tangling into her hair.

She laughed in his face, "Tell yourself that."

"I must've, you fell asleep during." He was fishing. He wanted a compliment. He wanted her to gush over how great he is as a lover. Yui could only give in, lovingly.

"Loki..." she paused, before deciding not to tell him the truth. "Yes, that's it. I fell asleep during those lovely fifteen seconds. It had nothing to do with running away from that forest troll that afternoon or tying up Heimdall-which I still don't know how you got me to do that. And you are just as fun in bed as you are in everyday life."

Loki scoffed, "Don't patronize me." He then shoved her shoulder. "Now wake up! Wake up! Thor's making Swedish pancakes-"

"-or in your case just 'pancakes'."

"Funny," Loki muttered before pulling at her nightgown. "Come on."

Yui groaned, "Give me a moment. I'm still trying to get some more body sleep after your chainsaw snoring last night."

Loki scoffed, trying to hide his mortification, "I DO NOT snore!"

"Do too!" Yui vehemently attested. The dark circles under her eyes should've been proof enough. "Do I have to drag Balder in here to confirm?"

"Ha ha. It's breakfast time. That boy's busy eating five steaks in the course of a half an hour."

"'That boy?' What is he? Our kid?"

Loki's head bobbed up and down sporadically, sarcastically, but left very little room for rebuttal, "Kinda yeah. I told you when you came with me to our love nest that he comes with the house, babe."

Loki rolled off of her and laid back next to her as she shook her head, "Balder's a growing boy. He can take care of himself."

Yui stopped and thought briefly before shoving Loki's shoulder, "Speaking of which you have to tell him where babies come from."

Loki blinked, "Wait. What?"

Yui nodded, expression straight, "Yep. Yeah, he asked me the other day and I was so bent up on how in the hell he's gone through centuries and not know about the 'birds and the bees' that I told him to ask you."

Loki groaned, rubbing his brow, giving a low sigh as if he were given an inevitable task, "I'm not the greatest person in the world to talk to him about that."

"Of course you are."

"Noooo!" Loki insisted, sharp grey eyes widening, "Have you met me?"

Yui laughed, "I have yes. Intimately on many occasions. If this is about you being...pansex-".

"Bisexual," Loki finished for her. Yui, needless to say wasn't convinced and gave him that pointed look that clearly said, "Yeah. Right."

"Loki, don't lie. You fell from a pansexual stork, onto a pansexual tree, hitting every pansexual branch on the way down. And you landed on a horse..."

She paused giving him a bemused look before finishing with every ounce of exasperation, "...and you did him."

Loki's lower lip jutted out in a pout as he glared at her. "Excuse me...HE did ME!"

He was always teased about his tryst with that particular horse...and any number of non-female, non-human lovers he may have had. In his humble opinion it didn't much matter what his past relationships entailed. He couldn't dwell on the past and all he asked that others didn't either. Loki believed that people change on a daily basis, an hourly basis. Loki was done with those trysts. All of his attention was with the girl in his bed, who was right now playing with a long strand of his hair.

"Loki, Thor insisted that you didn't even try to get away. And Thor, unlike you, doesn't lie."

"Whatever," Loki crossed his arms over his chest and turned his shoulder coldly. Yui giggled in her throat, feeling a little bit of a victory. After years of torments, jabs, jokes, and tricks, Yui relished every moment she could make her lover flustered. While some of the truths she uttered, bothered her, she quickly got over it. What did it matter who or what Loki had relations with before her? As long as he was with her in the here and now. Taking pity on Loki she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder blade. She couldn't see Loki smile blissfully. He stood up off the bed, stretching and pulling the wedgie his briefs created out from his rear. He coughed and cleared his throat.

"You getting up now?"

Yui sighed and leaned back again, "Can't you be a little patient?"

"I don't know how you all can just sleep in. When you wake a portion of the day is already over."

That was a good philosophy. Spend everyday to its fullest. But doing that everyday could really wear a person out. And it wasn't like Loki was immune to his own rowdiness. Thor, Loki, and Balder, even though no longer children, still went out on adventures and wore themselves to the bone. Yui'd sometimes find the three taking a nap by the fjords. The other goddesses often mused how much they were still such children.

"Come on, Yui. You know eating with the others is always entertaining."

Yui laughed and shoved him off, "Yes, because seeing Balder stuff his face with steaks that a giant couldn't finish is just a feat that must be seen to believe."

"True that. Makes me look good doesn't it? While he's getting bigger than a juiced up grizzly, I'm still smooth and svelte as the day you met me," Loki finished running his hands sensually over his body, especially over his thin, flat stomach.

Yui refrained from making a joke that he had to stay trim in order to fit into his leather god outfit. Instead she moved out of bed, adjusting her nightgown as she did so. She rummaged through her drawer to look for some appropriate clothes.

As she went into the washroom to change she could hear Loki yell, "Come on! Come on! Come on!"

"In a moment!"

Yui was about to slip on her dress when the door opened. Loki stared back at her in his leather outfit not at all embarrassed to see her in a state of undress.

"Loki! What the- Get out!"

"Stop whining. It's nothing I haven't seen before, hun."

As Loki stepped further in, Yui made quick work of getting fully dressed, sneering at Loki's mischievous grin. He slipped his arms around her tiny waist and his grin growing ever wider.

"You said you wanted me to hurry up," Yui said, trying to sound displeased but failing.

"Yes and now that you're dressed we have all the time in the world," he kissed her nose, her cheek, and then her lips. He lingered more than he wanted to, a faint red flush forming on his cheeks. His grip on her shoulders tightened as he pulled her out of the restroom and into their bedroom.

"Come, my pet. Our idiot sidekicks await," his hand clenched around hers and with a burst of energy pulled her into another adventure.

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><p><strong>AN: If you were expecting a sappy Loki snippet I'm sorry to disappoint you. Really I've could've gone pages with just playful banter, but I decided to stop it before things got weird. I guess doing this I realized Loki's a bit awkward for me to write. Making him too sappy defeats his purpose, but making him straight up snarky self would probably bore people.  
><strong>

**I know I said I would do Takeru or Apollon next, but I really want to pause and do our fave side-gods, Dionysus or Thor. More than likely Dionysus. I apologize to everyone wanting Takeru or Apollon next, but I know if I don't do any of the side-gods soon, I may never will. :(**

**Anyway, you all know the drill.**


	3. Dionysus

**Disclaimer: See chapter 1**

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><p>Chapter 3: Dionysus<p>

Nothing felt better than a nice morning breeze flowing through your window. In a hot place like along the Mediterranean, it was welcome. Yui moaned and felt herself smile as she felt the breeze brush her hair like a gentle whisper. She opened her eyes and immediately sat up, taking the sheets with to cover her bare chest. Her bed was empty, but he could hear giggling out on the balcony of their beautiful home.

She dragged herself out of bed, slipping on her deep purple slip. At first she was rather uncomfortable running around in such a sheer outfit, but quickly she grew to get used to it. That said, she was probably the most dressed person around. Half naked girls and guys ran around tons of times and it took Yui all of her might not to avert her gaze and blush.

She stepped out on the balcony to greet the morning. She could see planes of lush green hills, flourishing with groves of trees and strings of grape-vines. There, in the far spot in the distance was the sea, blue and sparkling against the sun rising over. Yui smirked, thinking about Apollon, traversing the sky on his daily patrol.

Laughter filled her ears and she turned, finding her lover lounging on his side on a dark red settee. He was surrounded by stark naked men and women, many of whom were reclined on the ground, drunken smiles on their faces. Some seemed groggy enough that one would assume that they too just woke up, but Yui knew better. The perpetual mass of goblets strewn across the balcony said otherwise.

Dionysus, in his wine red miniscule toga, raised his goblet and a woman poured yet more wine into his goblet. Upon seeing Yui, he beamed and lifted his goblet towards her.

"Glad to see you up, beautiful."

"Yeah, it seems I missed the morning party," Yui said, approaching the inebriated group.

Dionysus still smiled his lazy but approachable smile, "Though I do love having you around, sunshine, if its not your thing I won't push you."

"I know." That was one of things Yui was always appreciative of. Dionysus was not one to let go of his pleasurable lifestyle but despite entering an intimate relationship with Yui he never made her do anything she wasn't comfortable with. He realized certain things didn't sit well with certain people and excessive drinking and hedonism was certainly not within Yui's comfort zone. He understood her position and her concerns with how he conducted his "business."

Conversely, all he asked was that she understood him and his position, which wasn't hard to do. Already, dealing with a school of gods from all over the world with varying personalities and issues, she was incredibly patient and understanding.

Of course, Dionysus was equally understanding and generally chill about everything.

The fertility god grinned. He reached out and grabbed her arm pulling her gently towards the settee, onto his lap.

"Hope you you slept well, sweet? I know we were a little loud last night," he said before placing a kiss to the back of her head. He brought her to lounge back with him with a whimsical sigh.

It was nice to be able to relax with Dionysus in the mornings. Granted, Dionysus was hardly the hard-working type. However, he was very active in helping people make merry, which to Yui looked like rampant parties. He was busy entertaining, that quality time with Yui was somewhat scarce.

And still whenever Dionysus was alone with her, he never failed to make her feel like the only one in the room. When she asked for a moment, just even a moment, alone with him even during a busy party, he nearly always granted her wish, take her aside to a sequestered room or outside and talk to her, romance her in his own little frat boy way. Yui remembered laughing at his calm charm, at his jokes.

Dionysus would pour barrels of his wine down his subjects' gullets, but with Yui, he poured his wine delicately, neatly into a goblet, taking slow sips with her, taking a moment to appreciate the taste and company.

And he always, always, saved his best wine for them to enjoy together.

"You think too much," he murmured at her silence, running his fingers through her hair.

Yui chuckled in her throat, "More like reminiscing. You are a sort of contradiction."

"Oh, how's that?"

Yui leaned into him a little more, enjoying the soft breeze the brushed over the now quiet home.

She whispered against his chest, "If someone were to ask me if you were a stable, easy man, I would laugh. However, you are, in many respects, the most mature god I know. And I am including your father."

Dionysus laughed in the breeze, "Shhh, babe, you don't want him hearing that. I'd prefer not to have bad company during my festivities."

Yui pulled his hand away from her hair and brought to her lap with a smile on her face, "I'm not bad company, am I?"

Immediately without pause, Dionysus shut that idea down,"Nothing of the sort, Yui. I like it when you are enjoying the moment with the rest of us, though I assume you don't enjoy watching naked men throw up all over the veranda."

"Moderation, my love," Yui sighed, nuzzling against Dionysus' shoulder. "Something you have no conscious of." She paused, realizing that she may very well have insulted her lover. Quickly she added. "It's okay. I need to get out of my shell occasionally. You have helped me in that regard."

Dionysus reached down and grabbed his goblet from the floor of the veranda and took a gracious sip. He drank wine with a conscious. He would drink any wine offered to him, but one of the things that was important to him was the craft. He may have been lax in most things, but he did have an easy passion. The few things he truly held important in life he gave his heart and soul to. Yui and wine were the few things he gave his full passion to.

Dionysus tasted the wine on his lips with his tongue. The look of pleasure on his face was palpable. He wanted to offer the goodness of his wine to his lover. "Here. One sip won't hurt you."

Yui paused. She didn't drink wine much. However, one of her personal goals was to acquire a taste enough to enjoy small moments alone with him more. Dionysus held the goblet, patiently allowing her to make a decision.

With a shrug, she grabbed the goblet, "Might as well join the party."

She took a drink, cringing against the burn. The taste wasn't bad. It wasn't as bitter as beer or ale, but the alcohol burned more. She worked her tongue to ease the burn, doing her best not to have a look of pain on her face. Dionysus still laughed and took the cup from her.

"Still haven't acquired a taste yet, huh?"

As Dionysus took another sip, Yui shook her head, "No. Not yet."

At that moment, Dionysus gave a lazy grin and leaned into her. Before she could react, Yui's lover pressed his lips to hers, allowing a little bit of the wine he had drunk to flow through her lips. He deepened the kiss, winding his arms tight around her, not at all bothered that they could be seen by all and sundry.

The warmth on her lips and her body was not caused by the wine. Dionysus truly was an expert in all things pleasurable, managing to elicit a muffled moan from Yui. For once, Yui didn't much care how illicit they were being out and public. She preferred privacy, but when it came to Dionysus being on her, at this moment she didn't much care if their drunken perpetual house guests could see them, the ladies giggling and pushing and urging the nearly unconscious men to give them their illicit attentions.

Dionysus stopped before going too much further. He prided himself now that he had more self-restraint than the house guests currently going at it on their balcony like a hoard of spring rabbits. Yui blushed and tried desperately to avert her eyes, but Dionysus cupped her face so that all she could see was him. He pressed his forehead to hers and whispered jokingly, "Have you acquired a taste now?"

Yui smiled, winding her fingers in his long wine-red hair, "I should think so."

Dionysus turned to his guests and yelled, "Hey, take your fornicating inside!"

Yui didn't see much, but the bothersome noises dissipated as the guests went inside to resume their activity. She should be used to such embarrassing noises by now, but that didn't stop from making her blush whenever she walked into a room to see a man she barely knew butt naked or a woman in a large muscular man's arms, her gown slipping down her chest.

The only man she wished to see naked was the god currently wrapping his arms around her.

"Now it is only us," Dionysus kissed her nose and then her lips. "To do as we please right?"

Yui nodded and laughed returning a kiss, "Right."

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><p><strong>AN: I like Dionysus...I guess because on good days I am pretty much him and all his chillness. But because he's so chill I kinda found him a little difficult to write. Anywho, I've decided since I've done the two Greeks this time I'll do Takeru next just to mix the culture pot. I WILL get to Apollon, because I've grown to appreciate him and his happy-go-luckiness. You know the drill.**


	4. Takeru

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 4: Takeru<p>

Yui couldn't believe she woke up so late. No...wait she could. In truth, she didn't know what time it was but by the way the sun was positioned over the slightly rocky waters, it had to still be morning. She groaned as she felt her back creak and tighten as she rolled over on the spare futon. She didn't like sleeping alone, but she rather have sleep. Even then, she couldn't get much sleep with a futon that had to be made of stones.

It wasn't her fault, she mused, but no one could be blamed. But she envied her lover, who was probably still sleeping blissfully, with no care in the world he did triathalons in his sleep. Yui rolled out of her bed, rubbing her forehead, stripping the bedsheets from the spare futon and rolling it up.

However she never got the chance to finish putting the futon away and sneak back to her lover's bed when she heard a hoarse yell, "Yui! You up?"

She sighed inwardly and called out, "In here Takeru."

Her lover's barefeet padded rapidly down the wooden planks of the hall and the rice paper door to her temporary sanctuary slid open, revealing her Takeru in all his stout, spikey blue-haired, fundoshi glory.

"Yui! What are you doing here? This is the third time this week," Takeru was caught between anger and immense concern. His stocky form taught prepared for whatever encounter he was thinking up of in his head.

Yui left the futon where it was, rising to her feet, rubbing her tired eyes. At least Takeru was ready to take on the day. More than likely she would need a nap. Surely Takeru would understand.

On second thought, he wouldn't. At least not right away. He may have been a short muscular god who prized what he termed his "manliness", but he was terribly, awfully, sensitive. Yui once thought that he could never be reduced to tears, but in the times she had been with him, she learned that she was wrong.

His desire to be strong, if not the strongest, coupled with the fact that near almost anything could make him upset, caused several small disagreements erupt with Takeru being red in the face, mouth pulled in anger, eyes watery, near crying. Yui just learned to back away and let him breathe.

She learned he was overanxious and protective, which was fine, but on occassion a little blip in Takeru's radar would cause him come running towards her, frantically asking where it hurt, if she felt light headed, could she walk, could she see, and "hold still I'll go get a doctor."

"Sweet lord, Takeru, it's just a scratch."

"Hang on Yui, I'll carry you."

"That's really not necessary..."

She ended up letting him anyways.

But now she had to confront her lover about a nagging problem she had. Takeru was a very active sleeper. Talking in his sleep, walking a few times, kicking her in the night, knocking her in the head with his elbow as turned. Heck, a few times she woke up hard of breathing to find that Takeru had somehow positioned himself across the bed, sleeping on her face. Takeru was hardly ever this physically active when they were intimate.

Sleeping with him could be dangerous. Sure it was humorous to hear him laugh and talk in his sleep, but waking up lightly battered was rough for her, especially with some long days ahead.

"Please tell me there is an invisible spirit guest and that's why you're here," Takeru asked, fishing for perhaps some sort of amenable explanation."Or at the very least you're sleeping with someone else, because those are the only two explanations I can think of."

Yui quirked up an eyebrow, giving an unvoiced, "Really?"

Takeru still stood there, face dead-falt serious, perhaps a tad out of breath as his broad chest rose and sunk with each breath, "Please Yui, just tell me. I can take it."

He couldn't. Takeru could take on big waves, dragons, monsters, barfighters, but he could not take Yui criticizing his sleeping habits. She knew that.

"Come on. Tell me. Why do you sleep here?" he asked again, finger waving over the sheets and futon.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes?" he replied, his voice going up making it seem more of a question than a statement.

Yui resisted the urge to send him away to put some real clothes on before speaking about this. It was hard to talk to him when he was near naked and only wearing his fundoshi underwear. Kind of hard to take the conversation seriously. Regardless, Yui sucked in a breath tried her best to ease him into the situation.

"Okay, before I say anything, I just want you to know that I love you Takeru. I wouldn't change being with for anything in the world." As she gave that preface a little part of her brain nagged with a particularly unintentional "Except sleep."

Takeru seemed to be setting himself up for some devastating news. Probably she had to go away for a while. Or she hated his clothing choices. Disliked his overprotectiveness at times. Or worse. Could it be that she disliked the bunny garden he built out back for all of Tsukito's rabbit friends? That's tough. Life wouldn't be the same without Usamaro hopping around back. He bit his lip at the thought.

"It's just that when you sleep, dear..." Yui finished and the confused expression on Takeru's face let her know that he had no clue about his nighttime gymnastics.

"I snore?"

"No. Not really."

"Then what? Dammit, Yui! Tell me what I'm doing wrong," he was getting frustrated and that only made Yui bellow back.

"You're an awful sleeper, Takeru!"

Takeru blinked, lips parted in shock. What did that mean? If he didn't snore, how was he an awful sleeper?

"You're restless," Yui clarified, her face still red after her outburst. "You kick, move around constantly, talk in your sleep-"

"So I move around to get comfortable, so what?"

"Takeru, I woke in the middle of night to find my face in your belly button. You were sleeping on top of me!"

Takeru's brow frowned as he tried to imagine what that would've looked like. Thinking about the impossible, just made him worried. Was he suffocating her? Here he was so worried that he was suffocating her relationship wise, he could have no idea that he may have been suffocating her literally.

The worst part of it was that he had no clue as to how to prevent his sleeping recklessness. He had no idea of the problem beforehand-although he did recall waking up across the room a few times-so how could he prevent it?

"I really, really would like to spend my nights with you, but some days I do need my sleep. And when it gets really wild, I move in here to sleep."

His jaw clenched, hands on his hips, glancing down and to the side to take the problem in. He was harming her and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Heavens know he spent all of his waking moments trying to keep her out of harms' way.

"So what do you propose we do?" he said, eyes watering as he tried desperately to hide his sensitivity.

Honestly, Yui had no clue. She would have to consult people. The first solution came to mind was something Yui certainly did not want to do. She opposed any artificial ways to get him to sleep like a rock. Psychology? God no.

As Takeru scratched the back of his spiky hair, Yui could only reply, "Short of strapping you to the bed? No, I have no clue."

"Exercise, maybe?" Takeru offered with a flat frown. Though that may have been impossible. He was already very active. Then his eyes grew big, as if he found the very solution to curing world hunger, cancer, and his sleeping issue.

Yui was about to give him a "no" before he even spoke. It was hard differentiate a look of great epiphany and great intimate pleasure from Takeru. The very idea of intimacy and the intricate but pleasurable details never failed to fascinate him in some respects. And yet, Yui was not going to supply him with any more "exercise" than he already had before, just in the off chance he would end up sleeping like a rock.

"Yui," he said drawing closer to her. She stepped back slightly, not entirely comfortable with him getting too close this naked at the moment. "We'll come up with a solution. I know at least you will. You're smart, you know. Clever."

She couldn't help but blush at the compliment and this time, she didn't even flinch when he grabbed her shoulders gently and tried to get her to look him in the eye, "And I am sorry, for my actions."

"You can't help it," Yui stumbled over her words slightly. "You can't really control what you do in your sleep."

"But perhaps, Yui, if I wake you up, you wake me up as well. That way, we can suffer from lack of sleep together," he said with a small smile. It may have sounded brilliant to him, but in the back of Yui's mind, there would be problems. Takeru was already pretty grumpy on normal terms, though nothing Yui couldn't handle or deal with. And with them both going about their daily routine with even littler sleep would only be a disaster.

Takeru could see quite clearly that Yui wasn't exactly on board. Why he wasn't sure. He laughed in his throat anyway, "Or you can just lie on top of me as punishment and restraint."

Yui looked shocked, though she wasn't particularly against that solution. She just didn't know how that would go. It may cause more problems than solve. She wasn't heavy, necessarily, and Takeru was strong, but he was by all accounts very short, and having someone close to his height who was lighter than he may not resolve the issues involving his thrashing. Yui would likely end up at the far end of the room after a particularly severe jerk.

"There's always double beds," Yui offered as a joke, "Go back to the gold ol' days."

"No. I will not have it," Takeru's face turned into a severe frown, obviously not understanding that Yui was making a blatant joke.

"I was just joking Takeru," she said with a soft yawn. Jeesh, she just woke up and she was already feeling the fatigue starting in. It did not go unnoticed by her lover.

Takeru gently pulled her to him, allowing her weight to settle in his strong arms. "Here," he said with an ounce of reluctance, "You can rest against me."

Smiling, she allowed him to hold her in his arms, feeling she could in fact fall asleep against him peacefully. So they hadn't resolved the issue, but at this point Yui couldn't give much of a care, even if she knew that care would return when they got ready for bed later that night. She could hear the soft gushing of the waves outside their home, the jangling of the wind chimes, and she could fall right back to sleep.

"Thank you," she said softly. After a pause she broke the silence again, "Takeru?"

"Hrmmm?"

"Could you please put some clothes on?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Takeru for you. Mostly inspired by his route in the game where nabs Yui in his sleep and starts mumbling things. And fun irresistable fundoshi.**

**You know the drill.**


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